Electric heater



J. H. BAKSTAD.

ELECTRIC HEATER.

APPLICATION man 0917.1920.

Patented N ov. 22, 1921,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHAN R. IBAKSTAD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HOLDEN WHITE, INC., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

ELECTRIC HEATER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented N ov. 22, 1921.

Application :Bled October 7, 1920. Serial No. 415,292.

To all 'whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, JOHAN R. BAitsTAD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Heaters, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to electric heaters intended for the heating of railway cars and the like, and it resides more particularly in a novel construction of heater applicable to the truss-planks or walls of railway cars and therefore designated by me as an electric heater of truss plank type. The

purpose of this invention, among other objects, is to provide a heater of the truss plank type which shall be eflicient, compact, light in weight, easily installed and coinparatively inexpensive.

The heatercomprises a body casing having a flat front, forwardly converging upper and lower sides, and a back plate adapted in its main part to lit within, to a suitable extent, the upper and lower sides of the body casing and be secured to flanges formed on the edges of said sides and also to the truss plank or wall. The body casing is imperforate over its top or upper side and perforated throughout its front and bottom or lower side, and the said back-plate, to which the body casing may he readily applied, carries a detlector for direct-ing the heated air through the front of the body casing and also appropriate means supporting the resistance element or elements which I apply within the heater.

The body casing is in the nature of a hollow shell of convenient outline in cross section, and the back plate therefor carrying what may be termed the operative mechanism is adapted to receive and permit the re,- moval therefrom of said casing as occasion may require. The heating element employed by me within thepheater is of the type known commerciallyl as the Cutler- Hammer unit, and I may employ one or more of these unitsfwithin the casing, as may be preferred or found necessary. In the presentation of the invention herein I illustrate the employment of two of the Cutler-Hammer units within the casing of the heater.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an elec` 3, said section merely removing the front wall. of the heater casing; l

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the same, taken on the dotted line 3 3 of Fig. 2; I

Fig. is a side elevation of one of the supporting brackets for the heating elements, and

Fig. 5 is a frontelevation ofthe same, the lsupporting brackets being adapted to receive the heating elements land carried by the back plate of the heater.

In the drawings, 10 designates the main casing of the heater and 11 the back .plate therefor. The heating elements are designated -by the numerals12, .13 and they are, as aforesaid, of the Cutler-Hammer type and commercially Well known.

The casing. 10 comprises in one integral piece a front 14, a to) 15 and a bottom 16 and said casing is hollow so as to form an adequate chamber for the heating elements 12, 13. The front 14 and bottom 16 are perforated for the escape of the heated air. The top and bottom 15, 16, respectively, extend forwardly on converging lines, as shown in Fig. 3, and at their outer edges merge into the vertical front 14. At their inner edges the top and bottom members 15, 16 are flanged vertically, as at 17, and at said flanges engage the upper and lower flanges 18 formed at the upper and lower edges of the back plate 11, which back plate at the inner edges of the Hanges 18 extends inwardly, as at 19, closely along the inner surfaces of the top and bottom members 15, 16 to a suitable extent for accomplishing several purposes, one being to aid in supporting the casing 10, another to create an air space 20 at the back of the heater and between the plate 1 1 and the truss plank or wall 21 and a, third being to properly posi-v bers 15, 16, at its end edges matches the inv ner vertical edges of the ends 22 with which the casing 10 is equipped, thereby leaving an open space between the inner edges of the ends 22 and the truss plank or wall 21 corresponding with the space 20 indicated in Fig. 3. The flanges 18 of the back plate 11 and the flanges 17 of the body casing l0 are correspondingly perforated to receive screws 23 by means of which said body casing may be secured in position upon, said back plate after the back-plate has been fastened to the truss plank or wall 21 by means -of'screws 24 whose heads are concealed by the flanges 17 of the casing 10, said screws 24 being indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2.

4The back-plate 11 is first secured to the truss-plank or wall 21 by means of the screws 24, said back-plate at the time carrying the detlector 52 and resistance elements 12, 13, and thereafter the body casing 10 vis applied over the forwardly projecting body portion of said back plate 11 or to the osition shown in Fig. 3, and said body caslng is then secured in position by means of the screws 23. It will be obvious that upon the withdrawal of the screws 23, the body casing 10 may be removed without disturbing the back-plate 11, so as to expose the heating elements 12, 13-and deflector 52 for such attentionas these parts may require.

The ends 22 applied on the body casing 10 conform to the general outline in cross-section of said casing, as shown in Fig. 1, and said ends are of sheet metal and formed with front flanges 25 and upper and lower flanges 26, 27, all of which flanges pass upon the end edge portions of the casing 10 and are preferably permanently secured thereto by electric welding or otherwise. The ends 22 by engaging the upper and lower members 15, 16 of the casing 1() bind said members together, and. said ends when equipped with the flanges 25, 26, 27 and welded to the body casing 10, afford such strength to the casing as to permit the casing to be made of reasonably thin sheet metal.

The deflector 52. is a sheet metal plate welded or otherwise secured to the backplate 11 vand inclining upwardly and forwardly to the upper front corner of the casing 10, as shown in Fig. 3, and said deliector compels the exit of heated air through the perforated` front of the casing, other portions of the heated air escaping through the perforated bottom 16 of said casing. p

The heating elements 12. 13 are alike and. as hereinbefore explained., of commercial type and commonly designated as the Cutler-Ha1nme1 unit. This unit. as is well known, comprises a ribbon of flat nichrome wirewhich is wound around a flat mica core andthe Whole is inclosed within a flat steel casing which becomes heated and which I number'28, this casing being of sheet steel folded over to envelop the interior portions of the unit. A strip of mica is located between the ribbon and the. casing 28 to'proforms no portion of my present invention,

aside from its connectioniwith the mountings provided by me, I do not enter into a detailed description of the unit.' Each unit comprises a bar 29 which extends beyon'd the ends of the steel casing 28, as shown in Fig. 2, and the ends of the bars 29 I secure to ears 30 of supporting frames 31 by 'means of screw bolts 32. The frames 31 are each formed with a base-plate 33, which is preferably secured by welding tothe back-plate 11, and also with a forwardly projecting plate -34 which inclines upwardly and forwardly, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, and has at its upper and lower edges the ears 30 to which the ends of the bars 29 of the resistance elements are secured. The forwardly projecting plates' 34 of the frames 31 are apertured, as shown in Fig. 4, at 35,. and the conductors 36, 37 leading to and from the respective elements 12, 13 extend through recesses in the ends 22 of the heater casing and through said openings 35`in the frames 31, the terminal ends of said conductors being' secured by bolts, as shown in Fig. 2, to the bars 29 of the resistance elements. In the present instance I illustrate two of the resistance elements 12, 13, but if desired only one of said elements may be made use of in connection with my hea-ter, since my invention does not reside in the details of the resistance elements or heating units, nor in the number thereof, but in the casing and in the frames 31 adapted to properly support a unit or units in proper location within the body casing of the heater and below the deflector 52. y

The details of the frames 31 are important in permitting the ready application of the heating elements to position. and the removbility of the body casing 10 is of advantage, since when said body casing is removed, the back plate 11 may remain in position and continue to support the heating elements 12.

' 13 while they receive such attention as may Cross-reference is made to xn copending application Serial No. 415,293 filed October 7, 1920, for electricheaters, showing in different form, arrangement and organization some of the general features of my present invention, the heater described in said application 415,293 being of Vertical construc- `tion and adapted for conditions incident to 'the heating of vestibules of cars, whereas,

the heater of this application is of horizontal construction and adapted to thel truss planks of cars and to the conditionsv incident'to the location of the heater-at a truss plank.

What I claim as my invention and to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

l. An electric heater of the character described comprising a horizontally elongated casing having a front, forwardly converging upper and lower sides angedvertically at their inner edges, a back-plate fitted `within the back portions of said upper and lower sides vand having flanges to engagea wall and to receive the flanges `on saidpcasing, means securing said backplate to' thev .wall independently of'saidcasing,v means removably securing the flanges of said casing to the fianges of said back-plate anda heating resistance within'said casing and supported from said back-plate, said back-plate forming an air space behind it, andsaid body desire vcasing being perforated forthe escape of heated air. Y

2. An electric heaterof the character described comprising a ,horizontally elongated casing having a front, forwardly converging upper and lower sides fianged vertically at their inner edges, a back-plate fitted within the back portion of said casing and havving flanges to engage a wall and to receive the flanges-on saidcasing, means removably securing said casing to the flanges vof said back-plate, a heating resistance within said casing'and supported from said back-plate, and ends permanently secured upon the ends of said casing and having front and edge flanges to receive the adjacent portions of said casing, said ends terminating at the edges'of said back-plate so as to therewith form an air space behind said plate.

3. An electric heater of thev character described comprising a horizontally-elongated casing' having a front, ends, and forwardly converging upperand lower sides, a backplate fittedwithin the back portion offsaid casing and having flanges to engage a wall,.

' s means removably securlng said casing to said back late and a heating resistance vwithin vsaid casing and supported from sald back-plate,` said resistance comprising an elongated bar, and the means for supporting said resistance comprising frames having vremovably securing said casing to said back- -plate, a heating resistance within said casing and supported from said back-plate and a deflector supported by said back-plate above said resistance and extending to .the

'upper front corner ofsaid casing, said casing being perforated at its front and lower side and the ends of said casing being slotted to pass over the electrical connections without disturbing the same.

5. An electric heater of the character described comprising a horizontally elongated casing having a front, forwardly converging upper and lower sides,4 a back-plate fitted within the back portion of said casing anjd adapted to be secured to a wall independently of said casing, means securing said casing to said back-plate independently of the means securing the back-plate to the wall and a heating resistance within said casing and supported from said back-plate, said back-plate forming an air space behind it, and said body' casing bein perforated below its top for the esca e of heated air.

6. An electric heater o the character described comprising a horizontally elongated casing having a front, forwardly converging upper and lower sides, a back-plate fitted within the back portion of said casing and adapted to be secured to a wall independently of said casing, means securing said casing to said back-plate independently y of the means securing the back-plate to the wall and a heating resistance Within said casing and supported from said back-plate, said back-plate forming an air space behind it, and said body casing being perforated below its top for the escape of heated air and said casing having ends permanently secured thereto and having front and upper 'and lower inwardly projecting fianges receiving the adjacent end portions of said casing. I

Signed at Chicago, in the county ofCook andv State of Illinois, this 27th day of September, A. D. 1920.

`JOHAN R. BAKSTAD. 

